An Auspicious Day

I awaken to a gentle falling rain and go down to the river to give thanks for the gift of life and another year of life as well. In many cultures, it is very auspicious for rain to fall on one's birthday.

 Though it is cold and windy, I do my river ablutions and step into the river, allowing my feet to get wet as a sort of baptism and connection to the spirit of this body of water. I say my river meditations and prayers and take in the broad expanse of the riverbank now almost totally denuded by the fallen leaves...

 It is a special day I am told - for this year my birthday falls during a total solar eclipse, as well as a New Moon - in addition to occurring during the celebration of Diwali - the Indian festival of lights. It is a time heralding transformation and change and I am also told, that a birthday on such a day brings abundance on many levels as well...

 In a year of so much change and transition I look forward to new beginnings and a change in direction, for as I have shared with a few, I've felt like I have been wandering in the desert or walking between two worlds...

 I come home and spend a couple of hours with a dear friend and I share and celebrate with her the goodness and manifestation of God's love in our hearts and our lives... We receive insights for one another and for the first time, I truly and deeply understand the gift of this time and the myriad of experiences I am having...

 I am grateful for so much on this day, and for the many well wishes received - which I am responding to - each and everyone of them - with a thankful heart and a blessing... No kind word towards me must remain unreciprocated in any way...

 I look forward to listening to a gifted Vedic astrologer share her insights for this New Moon...

 Yes, I step into the river for a moment - this river that has seen me through so much...

 "Let your prayer this day be, 'Help me, Lord, that I may persevere in following your ways until the end of my days, Grant that I may now, this very day, begin again, for all that I have done in the past is as nothing compared to all you have done.' "
~ Thomas a Kempis

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